Thursday, July 27, 2017

Under Republic Acct No. 10863 or the Customs modernization and tariff Act (CMTA), Sending balikbayan boxes by Qualified Filipinos While Abroad to their familes and relatives is exempt from payment of duties and taxes up to three times not exceeding Ph 150,000 in a calendar year.

Below are a few tips that you can follow to ensure that you balikbayan boxes reach it's destination.

Declare all the contents of your balikbayan box in the packing list per item and its corresponding value, if possible, as well as your preferred shipping date. Ask for proper (or extraordinary, if needed) packing, wrapping, strapping, sealing and labeling of your box.

Secure shipping documents such as official receipt, cargo receipt, invoice, house Bill of Lading, shippers’ declaration or waybill.

Get the name and contact details of the consolidator’s Philippine counterpart/agent. Be sure that this information is indicated in the shipping documents that you have secured.

Beware of exceptionally very low rates.

Beware of persons posing as representatives of freight forwarding companies in your place. Ask for proper identification, check with the freight forwarding companies if they are an employee or authorized to represent the said companies.

Monitor the movement of your cargo from origin to destination. You may inquire for a tracking scheme or continuously contact the forwarding company. You may ask them to provide you details of your shipment such as the name of shipping line, vessel’s name, voyage number, container number, and expected time of departure and arrival of your package. You can use the Bureau of Customs Balikbayan Box Tracker to monitor your shipment. All Balikbayan boxes sent through Forex Cargo can be track using our Tracking System that you can find here.

You may also procure insurance for your cargoes. Ask the freight forwarding company on how to go about it.

Inform your consignee to check your cargo with the Philippine agent even before it arrives. When it does, make sure to inspect the seal and wrapping of the box before signing the receipt of delivery. If you feel it has been tampered with, do not receive the box and ask the delivery agent to have it double-checked.

Immediately file a complaint for any loss, non-delivery, pilfered or damaged cargo to DTI-FTEB at G/F Floor, UPRC Bldg., 315 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City or send through email at fteb@dti.gov.ph or call DTI-Direct 751-3330 or 0917-8343330 for assistance.

Saturday, July 22, 2017

For fear that smugglers might take advantage of balikbayan boxes to smuggle contraband into the country, the Bureau of Customs (BoC) is encouraging overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to itemize the contents of their package.

“Let us make sure that these smugglers do not use our OFWs and their balikbayan boxes to smuggle contrabands into the country,” Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon told reporters Friday.

Friday, July 21, 2017

The controversial regulation requires senders to detail the contents of their packages.

But the BOC explained the new rule is for the welfare and safety of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

The agency argued it just wants to protect the valuables of OFWs so it could safely arrive to their loved ones in the Philippines.

The BOC said the false impression arose from the vested interests of local forwarders or deconsolidators

It explained that senders are not required to include the receipt of the items of their packages if its contents are not new or expensive.

Customs officials argued that the new regulation is just an assurance that OFWs will not abuse the privilege given by the government that balikbayan boxes with contents not exceeding P150,000 pesos will not be taxed.

many . We will deliver your packages door to door to any part of the Philippines. Your packages are protected and secured giving you piece of mind.

Air Cargo services is a faster option that is suitable for your urgent documents, important materials or valuable parcels. We deliver them in Metro Manila from Washington DC every 7 days or so. For more information please click here.

Our branch, Forex Cargo Florida, also offer Dropship, Consolidation and Custom Packing. These service are for people who are in the Philippines who wants to order and purchased online. Read more about it on our products page.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

IF there lies a single thing that would ultimately define Filipino identity, one would have to fly around the world and back, and still would not know what it would be. That is how diverse and colorful the Filipino culture is. Packed with various traits, characteristics, upbringing, talents and skills; no wonder you cannot confine the Filipino people in a single category. More often than not, you will find traces of them wherever you go.

One of the factors which certainly sets Filipinos apart from the rest, are their close family ties. In a common household, it is not surprising to see extended families living under the same roof. The concept of family not only applies as to what the law perceives—the smallest unit of society. For Filipinos, it is one flesh, blood, and legacy established at birth. What is valued in a family often corresponds with the values that one possess.

These familial ties gave birth to the idea of the “pasalubong.” It is a concept in the Philippines that whenever someone leaves home or travels, he has to bring back some sort of token from his destination upon his return.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

The rise in the number of Filipinos working in other countries, with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait having the biggest diaspora, has led to the balikbayan box phenomenon. “The balikbayan box was a creative response by shippers who recognized that many OFWs were sending large amounts of items home,” Dr Racelis said.

“They recognised the market demand and responded to it by designing and selling easy-to-assemble, sturdy and stackable boxes of the right size for airline shipping.”

The balikbayan box has become a receptacle for pasalubong even if the person has not yet returned.

Monday, July 10, 2017

FOREX Cargo has been serving every Filipino from every part of the globe for more than three decades. In those years, FOREX continued to grow and expand and keeps on raising the standard of service. We go beyond anything else to protect the boxes of our customers who spent their hard earned money, time and effort to bring love to their relatives in the Philippines.

Filipinos have come to know Forex as the name they can trust when it comes to shipment and delivery of balikbayan box packages to the Philippines.

Friday, May 5, 2017

It is a given fact that Filipinos are everywhere and can be found in almost every nook of this globe. Based on a 2015 survey on overseas Filipinos, there are 2.4 million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the world. These Filipinos, one way or another, find ways to send cash or gifts to their loved ones.

By virtue of Republic Act No. 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), in relation to Customs Administrative Order (CAO) No. 5-2016, Balikbayan Boxes sent by Qualified Filipinos While Abroad (QFWA) are no longer subject to duties and taxes. QFWA is a collective term used to refer to non-resident Filipinos, OFWs, and resident Filipinos. The CAO covers exemption from duties and taxes of consolidated shipments of Balikbayan Boxes sent through any port of entry by QFWA to families or relatives in the Philippines.

For purposes of the exemption, a Balikbayan Box refers to a corrugated box or other container up to a maximum volume of 200,000 gross cubic centimeters, often transported by freight forwarders either by sea or air. It shall only contain personal and household effects and shall neither be in commercial quantities nor intended for barter, sale or for hire. Thus, sole proprietorships and juridical entities are not qualified to avail of the benefits.

Friday, January 23, 2015

MAKATI, 23 Jan. (PIA)--The Department of Trade and Industry’s Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (DTI-FTEB) warned the public against the unreputable freight forwarders, which were the subject of complaints from shippers and consignees for non-delivery of Balikbayan boxes.

In a statement, DTI-Consumer Protection Group (CPG) Undersecretary Atty. Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba said the DTI-FTEB listed these erring foreign and local sea freight forwarders to prevent consumers in patronizing their services.

According to Dimagiba, the FTEB, a DTI-CPG line bureau, regularly posts its advisory of erring foreign and local sea freight forwarders for non-delivery of Balikbayan boxes in the DTI website.
- See more at: http://news.pia.gov.ph/

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Investments registered by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority
increased by a marginal 1.21 percent in 2014, a consequence of the truck
ban in Manila that triggered a seven-monthlong congestion in the
capital’s main gateways.

According to Peza Head for Promotion and Public Relations Group Elmer
San Pascual, investments as of December 2014 is at $279.477 billion,
which fell short of the 10-percent target for 2014.

“Malaki epekto ng port congestion. Those who were planning to expand had
to rethink their expansion plans because their raw materials were not
coming in and they, likewise, can’t ship out their finished products,”
San Pascual said.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

CHALLENGE. The national government says the problem of port congestion
could worsen due to operation interruptions in the coming weeks. Photo
from the ICTSI website

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang has appealed to the private sector
to pull out as many of their containers as they can from the Port of
Manila in view of two major events that would interrupt port operations
this month.

MANILA – The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said congestion
at the Ports of Manila is expected to worsen with the arrival of Pope
Francis on January 15.

PPA General Manager Juan Sta. Ana said that after the nine-day
Christmas holiday break, yard utilization at the Manila International
Container Terminal (MICT) of International Container Terminal Services
Inc. (ICTSI) and Manila South Harbor of Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI)
increased to 89 percent from 79 percent on December 24.

Sta. Ana said that based on estimates by the Port
Congestion-Multisectoral Working Group (PC-MWG), yard utilization will
climb by 3 percent a day during the 5-day Papal visit from January 15 to
19.

He said the number of vessels waiting at the pilot station increased to
17. The figure does not include the 5 currently docked at South Harbor
and 7 at MICT as of January 7.

About

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Forex Cargo Florida offers balikbayan box shipping service from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and parts of Tennessee to anywhere in the Philippines. We are a licensed and bonded Ocean Transport Intermediary, Non-Vessel Common Carrier (OTI-NVOCC) that specializes in the transport of househould goods and personal effects to the Philippines, via ocean cargo. We are still the most reliable and number one shipper of door-to-door boxes in the Philippines.